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Red Wing Ragtime and Marches

Ragtime and march music (including two vocals) from the turn of the 20th century, played on an Allen GW-4 digital theatre organ, designed to mimic the power and majesty of the original Mighty Wurlitzer...now you can hear ragtime in a whole new way!

ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

Dr. William L. Coale, Ph.D. is a retired school superintendent from Michigan who moved to northern California in 2009 where he is busy working as a personal/leadership coach, writing the biography of legendary theatre organist George Wright, restoring theatre pipe organs with his colleagues Ed Stout and Dick Taylor, and playing theatre pipe organ programs.

Piano-centric Ragtime music gets a welcome change-up with Bill Coale’s new CD— Red Wing Ragtime and Marches. Performed on a theater organ, Bill has taken advantage of all the rich, colorful sounds and majesty inherent in the instrument to present a very fine CD.

Taking a listen to some of the Joplin rags performed (Palm Leaf, Original Rags and Chrysanthemum) one gets a sampling of the various stop registrations that give each piece its own very distinct flavor.

Sprinkled between the many ragtime solos that include Chili-Sauce Rag (H.A. Fischler), Whistling Rufus (Kerry Mills), Temptation Rag (Henry Lodge), Black and White Rag (George Botsford) and others are the spirited marches of Kerry Mills, and John Philip Sousa, which include use of the organ’s tuned and non-tuned percussions. A few delightful numbers not programmed very often are Victor Herbert’s Al Fresco and Sparkling by Mindle Cere. The Midnight Fire Alarm by Harry J. Lincoln makes use of some spiffy sounds from the organ’s “toy counter.” Vocals by Bill on Joplin’s Sarah Dear and distant 1920s relative Jack Coale’s I’m All Alone are also included.

Bill Coale’s first CD is very entertaining. It's lively! It's fun and would make a nice addition to your Ragtime collection.CD Review: Chris Bradshaw (of the Chris/Jack Bradshaw ragtime duo)